Firebomber Publications Blog

Wildfire News Of The Day (the Firebomber Publications blog) provides comprehensive international wildfire news. Subscribers include over 10,000 personnel from fire agencies, contractors, and government entities on five continents. "BEST NEWSLETTER I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY 32 YEARS IN THE FIRE SERVICE" - San Diego Fire Department Chief Brian Fennessy.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 051413

Wildfire NOTD subscriber Tom Eversole, Executive Director of the American Helicopter Services & Aerial Firefighting Association, sent along a press release which disputes the readiness of most of the air-tankers that won the US Forest Service's recent award of Next-Generation air-tanker contracts (1); US Forest Service Aviation Chief Tom Harbour responding that they will rely more on military aircraft in the interim (2); former US Forest Service Chief Mark Rey recommending more heavy air-tankers to reduce the incidence of wildfires across the US in a radio segment (3). A summary of wildfire activity in Southern California, where wildfires were burning near Lytle Creek and Lake Castaic, is provided by the next article (4); NASA satellite data prompting scientists at Jet Propulsion Laboratory to identify a "double jeopardy" wildfire danger posed by recent rainfall (5); Wildfire NOTD subscriber Rick Halsey, Director of the Chaparral Institute, sending along a KPBS radio segment in which he discusses Governor Brown's recognition of California's need to adapt to changing climate conditions and wildland fire patterns (6); while the Lake County Fire Safe Council will be hosting a Wildfire Safety Expo in Kelseyville this Saturday (7); CAL FIRE's outlook for the state's wildfire season being examined by the next article (8). US Sen. Ron Wyden, concerned about the 2013 fire season in Oregon, is looking at ways to boost fire detection (9); and fire officials in Arizona are projecting an average fire season which, 20 years ago, would have been classified as anything but (10). New Mexico's Sierra Blanca Regional Airport will soon be home to two SEATs and a firefighting helicopter (11); and in anticipation of a busy fire season, Angel Fire Resort has established the Northern New Mexico Firefighter Fund to assist firefighters with the resources they need to fight wildfires (12). Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park is showing signs of recovery in the Fern Lake Fire burn area (13); while fire officials will be hosting a Wildfire Preparation Workshop in Glade Park today (14). Texas Forest Service reported that a 100-acre wildfire near Possum Kingdom Lake is now 25% contained (15); while fire officials in Austin are seeking public input at three weekly wildfire prevention meetings which begin tonight (16). The DC-10 has been forward-deployed to Wyoming's Casper/Natrona County International Airport in preparation for the summer wildfire season (17). The fire outlook for Western Montana is covered by the next article (18); a 200-acre wildfire near Philipsburg serving as a reminder of the fire season ahead (19). South Dakota State Wildland Fire is spinning up the Single Engine Air Tanker Base at Hot Springs for what is forecast to be a busy wildfire season (20). The National Weather Service says the eastern parts of Minnesota and Iowa could see pockets of wildfires tomorrow (21); and a pair of wildfires near Minnesota's Red Lake Reservation have already blazed across 1,200 acres (22). A National Fire Prevention and Education Team dispensed wildfire knowledge to property owners from Polk and Haralson counties, Georgia (23); but a late snowpack in Alaska bodes well for a late start to the wildfire season in the Last Frontier (24). The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has determined that disrupted fuel flow led to the crash of a firefighting helicopter outside of Lillooet, British Columbia, in 2010 (25); but evacuation orders have been lifted in Ashcroft due to the diminished danger posed by the 1,400-hectare Spatsum Creek wildfire (26). A pair of wildfires in West-Central Alberta continued to defy firefighters (27); while recommendations of a 237-page report on Alberta's Lesser Slave Lake wildfire of 2011 have been accepted by the provincial government (28); but nearly a dozen wildfires are currently active in Saskatchewan (29); Ontario reporting no new fire activity in their province (30); air-tankers helping to bring a wildfire near Glovertown, Newfoundland, to heel (31). In Europe, new wildfires were reported outside of Castanheira de Pera, Portugal, and Santovenia del Monte, Spain, while several others continued to burn in France and Romania (32); and the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus plans to raise public awareness and increase the efficiency of the fire department to reduce the number of wildfires this summer (33); even as record temperatures were reported in Moscow, Russia, spawning dozens of wildfires across the Central Federal District (34). South Australia's Bundaleer Forest is slowly recuperating from a 2,300-ha bushfire that blazed through the region three months ago (35). As the inquiry into Tasmania's January bushfires continues, some are complaining that communications problems hampered fire suppression efforts (36); while young people will be the focus of the first round of awards from the Tasmanian Bushfire Appeal (37); but the president of the Rebels Motorcycle Club had to appear in court on a charge of running a police roadblock during the Dunalley bushfire in January (38). And finally, despite the fact that a South Carolina couple lost everything when their Windsor Green condominium was destroyed in March's Carolina Forest Fire, their wedding still went ahead as planned!